A Test of Sense and Confidence
by InconsistentThinker
Summary: Tormented Soul "Mutini" has been left at an impasse with life after a gruesome accident 2 years prior, but when a trip to summer camp takes a turn for the worse, Mutini must rely on seven complete strangers and their new found companions in order to survive. Yamato x OC, Taichi x Sora, Takeru x Hikari, Koshiro x Mimi?
1. Prologue

_**Konbanwa, this is my first story in a very long time, and hopefully the first of a series I'm planning on. I really hope you all enjoy this fanfic. I also hope you will all Rate and Review, I'd love to hear the feedback you peeps have. I do not own Digimon or any other series and its characters that may appear here. **_

Prologue

He was unstoppable. In the history of technology he had dominated and triumphed over all his predecessors – he was the destroyer and the corrupter – he was a hacker. No one knew who he was, and all those who had come close had lost it all in the blink of an eye. He could turn the greatest gift into a hell bound curse, destroy what was loved and recreate it into hate; the world was his toy and he its master. Tonight was going to make that dream a reality. Tonight he was going to show those 2-bit hackers age did not matter in this business. It's a shame, his dream would never be realized, for as he reached those final moments of his magnum opus. He was lost, and never found.


	2. Chapter 1: Child of Wonderland

Chapter 1: Child of Wonderland

It was a crisp clear day as the lone taxi cab pulled into the camp ground. It was rare for it to make these trips up the mountains, but today was an exception. Today he was running a favour for the old lady down the hall; she had helped him in so many ways, it was the least he could do.

He took a glance at his rear view mirror and smiled. "Here we are do you need any help with your bags?"

The young passenger absently nodded.

The cabby smiled and got out, making his way to open the child's door before going to the trunk. There wasn't much, just an old backpack and a worn out sleeping bag, but alas, the driver had persisted they be put there instead of the back seat.

He took a hold of the camping gear and began to pass them into the child's small slender fingers. He couldn't help but look amused by the tiny figure attempting to juggle the two oversized bags. After stifling a laugh he finally helped.

"Oh right, almost forgot!" The young driver smiled as he pulled a letter from his back pocket. "Your grandmother wanted me to give you this."

The 10 year old turned it over gingerly with Band-Aid covered hands, pondering what it could be.

"She also told me to give you these." He continued, placing a pair of black gloves in the other hand. "She thought they might make you feel more comfortable."

He received a nod of gratitude.

He said one last good bye before getting back into his cab and driving off, the kid becoming a spec of red and grey in the distance.

It didn't take long for the discomfort to settle in, as all eyes were now on the pre-teen wearing a bulky grey sweater in the middle of summer.

The first thing that came to mind was to wander aimlessly, like a lost puppy waiting on its mother or owner to find it. Luckily it didn't take long for someone to notice the small bundled up figure making its way across the campground.

"Hi, you must be our extra special camper!" A rather cheery voice spoke up from behind. It was startling and rather alarming. "Your grandma told us to keep a super special eye out for you!"

She was responded with silent displeasure.

"Oh, aren't you just adorable! How about we move those lovely red bangs out of the way to see your lovely eyes." The lady continued, her giant hand fast approaching the youth's face.

All she could catch was a glimpse of blue before the hooded youngster pulled away in a panicked frenzy, a mad attempt to get away from this intruder.

A teacher finally stepped in; he was irritated and unimpressed by the commotion in front of him. "Yano-san you're needed in the teacher's tent…now."

He watched in quiet disapproval as the woman called Yano took off, he hated student teachers. Half of them didn't know what they were doing. He then turned his attention to the quit victim of the petty assault. He could only assume who it was.

He spoke up in a calm reassuring tone. "Don't worry she won't bother you again. You must be the new student starting in September."

He received a hesitant nod.

"Oh good, we already have a tent set up for you." He responded as he led the way. "You'll have to share it with a few other children but if they start giving you a hard time come find me alright?" He received another hesitant nod.

Before he could continue on something caught his attention. A spec of white falling from the sky followed by another; by the time he grasped the situation a massive blizzard was stirring. He needed to act quickly.

"Quick, go find shelter!" He commanded before taking off to assist the other teachers.

The youth obeyed and took cover in one of the tents. It was empty.

When the storm was over, a pair of blue eyes peaked outside of the tent in an unspoken awe. Never in their lifetime had they ever gazed upon the wonder that was snow. They were curious. Without hesitation, they stumbled out of the tent and onto the landscape in front of them. It was beautiful, but the most enchanting scene of all was the gentle fluff still falling from the sky. They couldn't look away.

A sudden voice cried out, "Heads Up!" but it was too late, those blue eyes were now close up and personal with the white snow on the ground.

A boy and a girl came running onto the scene, both rather alarmed by what had just happened. Quickly they kneeled down and pulled the youth up from the ground below. The girl was the first to speak.

"I am so sorry, we were throwing snow balls around and we didn't think someone else was out here!" She began to explain as she dusted the snow off the confused red head.

The boy on the other hand crossed his arms before speaking up. "Told you the snow ball fight was a bad idea, Sora, but nooooo you didn't listen."

"M-My idea?" She punched him in the shoulder. "You were the one who pushed me into it, Taichi! If anyone is to blame it's you!"

"I was just kidding; you don't have to get so mad about it!" The boy named Taichi protested. "Besides, he's not complaining."

Sora exploded before punching Taichi in the arm again. "TAICHI, SHE'S A GIRL!"

He laughed nervously. "Oops."

Sora had never felt more embarrassed, it was clear she was ready to revoke her friendship with the goggle boy. Taichi on the other hand, had already gotten over the ordeal and was ready to move on to the next topic.

"Sorry about the snow ball, I'm Taichi and the one freaking out right now is Sora." He grinned. "Don't worry; she's usually not this much of a spaz. What's your name?"

The hooded figure said nothing.

"Did you just call me a spaz?" Sora growled, ready to punch him again. He attempted to change the subject.

He quickly pointed at the green cargo pants the red head was wearing. "Hey those are zip off cargo pants right?"

No response.

The three of them stood there in awkward silence till it was broken by a group of five more children.

The first to speak up was a boy with glasses. "Hey you two, we need to stick together!"

"We're fine; we were just helping out this girl." Taichi responded before turning around, only to find that she was missing. "Hey where did she go?"

Sora let out a sigh before pointing her out to him; there she was, walking back to the abandoned tent.

"Talk about anti-social." Taichi mumbled as he scratched his head perplexed.

He was corrected by a boy with blonde hair. "She's not anti-social, she lives in the same apartment building I do…she can't talk…."

Sora really let him have it this time. "Taichi you hit a mute!"

"Mutini!" He said out of the blue, a big grin plastered on his face. "Cause she's a mute and she disappears like Houdini!"

The rest of the group fell in an awkward silence.

"You can't just give people stupid names…" The blonde mumbled in protest.

Taichi countered. "Do you know her name?"

"No…" He sighed. He had lost that argument. He turned his attention back to the younger blonde haired boy who was with him, only to find that he too was missing. "Takeru?"

The little boy wasn't far; he was now with the silent girl, asking her all sorts of questions. The girl didn't seem to mind, he was rather polite unlike the brown haired boy with the goggles.

"My name is Takeru, what's yours?" He innocently asked, hoping she might open up, but she didn't answer. "Is it ok if we call you Mutini? I think it's really cute!"

The girl blushed a bit, she was hesitant. She wasn't use to so many people talking to her at once. To be honest, she wasn't use to people other than her grandmother talking to her. It was nerve wrecking, unsettling and most of all horrifying. She just wanted to hide back in the tent. She slowly nodded to him before reaching for the entrance.

A girl with a pink cowboy hat approached her with another question. "Aren't you warm dressed like that? Then again I guess maybe not since it just snowed…."

Mutini stared at the odd girl, she wasn't sure if she was supposed to answer that. The next thing she knew the two of them were now dragging her back to the rest of the group, encouraging her to join into their fun. It was then she asked herself, when was the last time she had fun? Either way she didn't want anything to do with any of them, she didn't deserve kindness or least of all, she didn't deserve friends. Her thoughts were interrupted by the girl with the cowboy hat.

"Look, Mutini, isn't it beautiful?" She smiled happily pointing out the spectacular light show in front of them.

The shorter boy with red hair spoke up this time. "That can't be possible; an aurora shouldn't be seen in Japan."

"Hey, where did Mutini go?" The girl in the cowboy hat suddenly asked, looking around the area.

"Maybe she's a ninja!" Taichi teased, a huge grin plastered on his face. It quickly disappeared when a series of beams shot from the aurora and towards them. The group broke into a panic.

Mutini was just about at the tent, when she was cut off by one of the beams. The collision was enough to startle her back into the snow. She watched in perplexed awe as the light started to drift back up to the sky, but as it did so, she could hear a small voice in the back of her mind.

_Take it…_

She reached out and grabbed it, it was warm to touch. The light slowly slipped away and all that was left was a cold machine sitting in the middle of her palm. She heard the voice again.

_I found you…_

She shot up to her feet in sudden horror; did that voice just say what she thought it said? There was no time left to think; her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden scream and an odd force pulling her back. She struggled to hold on but she couldn't – she was whisked off her feet and plunged into darkness.

It had begun.

_**So that's Chapter One and the Prologue, Chapter 2 should be up soon. Till then, thank you for reading.**_


	3. Chapter 2: Hunted

_**Welp, here's Chapter two, introducing a new character as well as the digimon I created. Enjoy. **_

…_..can….hear…_

_ Hey…._

_ you…hear…me…?_

_ HEY!_

Mutini slowly began to open her eyes – she felt like she'd been hit by a bike or a fully loaded shopping cart. She began to wonder if they'd even be the same.

A sudden high pitch voice broke her train of thought. "Hey are you awake?" She slowly turned her head, only to come face to face with a small white fuzzy ball with big black pointy ears.

She slowly sat herself up, her eyes never leaving the excited ball that began to flap its tiny bat like wings. She wondered if it could really fly with them. It suddenly came to a stop and looked up at her with its cute black eyes.

"Are you the one I've been waiting for?" It asked excitedly, but she could only stare at it. Where was its body? "You must be! You landed here so you must be!"

Mutini watched as the excited bundle of joy bounced around her happily, singing over and over again that she had finally arrived. She was beginning to wonder if it was the whisper she heard in her mind.

It finally stopped in front of her and asked. "What's your name, what's my name? You must know! You must!"

A grim looked crossed her face. How was she supposed to know something like that?

The ball began to tear up. "T-Then you're not the one I was waiting for…n-now what am I going to do?"

Mutini, who was still trying to wrap her head around this, started to look around. She was surrounded by trees and plants she had never seen before. Not to mention she was with a fuzzy white ball that was crying. She looked up at the sky; it seemed to be the only thing that was the same – blue and full of fluffy white clouds. It hit her. Quickly she picked up a stick and gently poked at the ball for it to pay attention; she then proceeded to write 'Cloud' in the dirt with an arrow pointing at it.

She thought it would stare at the dirt forever, as if that one word held all the answers to the universe. It finally looked up at her with eyes full of new hope.

"Cloud, I'm Cloud the Nimbimon!" It smiled happily before bouncing into her arms. It was the happiest ball with ears in the world. "You are the one I was waiting for, it's really you!"

She wasn't going to lie; she had mixed feelings about the whole thing. She had never had anyone so excited to see her before. It was perplexing, strange and wonderful all in one go. She could feel her face heat up upon seeing the small creature snuggle into her stomach. Maybe being alone with the little guy wasn't so bad. There was a sudden sound in the bush.

Mutini could feel her heart racing as she slowly climbed to her feet, her arms keeping a tight hold of Cloud. For all she knew, there could be other creatures in this bizarre place – ones that didn't take too kindly to strangers.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you!" The little critter declared, his fur standing on edge as he let out a small growl. If anything, it only made him seem cuter. They were screwed.

She stood her ground against the ever growing rustling, but who was she kidding. She was terrified; all she had on her was a stick and an adorable fuzz ball with ears.

Cloud jumped from her arms the moment a figure came into view, firing bubbles full force at the intruder.

"What the heck?" A familiar voice cried out in an attempt to shoo away the assault. It was the blonde from down the hall. Quickly Mutini picked up Cloud and covered his mouth, a rather frantic attempt to get him to stop. She could feel her face heat up at the sight of the irritated blonde and his little brother.

The little boy Takeru quickly ran over to her, tackling her to the ground. "Mutini-chan, you're okay!"

Mutini was so flustered, she didn't even notice the other two little critters running up to them, but Cloud certainly did.

"Tokomon! Tsunomon!" He happily cheered before jumping out of Mutini's arms. "You found them!"

The older boy looked down at the fuzzy orange creature. "You know him?"

Tsunomon nodded. "That's Nimbimon; he's one of our friends too."

"My name is Cloud!" Cloud protested - he was proud of his new name.

Takeru looked down at the small pink creature. "How come you and Tsunomon don't have names like that Tokomon?"

Tokomon tilted his head. "We don't really have individual names like you and Yamato; we just go by what we are."

Yamato sighed. The conversation was making his headache worse; he slowly approached Mutini and Takeru –extending his hand out to both of them. "Come on, there's a chance the others might be here too."

Little Takeru took the older boy's hand no problem, but Mutini was hesitant. If there was one thing she couldn't admit to herself, it was the crush she had on the blonde boy down the hall. She knew quite a bit about him from her Grandma – but the truth was he didn't even know her name. She was just that girl that lived in apartment 4B. That's all she ever would be.

Yamato sighed, his hand still extended to her. "Are you coming or not?"

Mutini quickly snapped out of thought, she could feel the heat rising to her cheeks as he pulled her to her feet before quickly turning away. She could feel her heart sink as she followed behind Yamato watching his back. She tried to take her mind off him by watching the scenery, but no matter how hard she tried, her eyes always drifted back to him. She just wanted it to end. Fortunately for her, it didn't take long to find the rest of the group as well as more of those cute talking critters. She watched as everyone began to smile and laugh – introducing themselves to one another. Everyone looked happy to see each other.

"Oh right, and this is Mutini!" Taichi grinned, sending another surge of heat through Mutini's face. She was hoping the name wouldn't last long. She quickly got over it when she came to a startling realization. Where was the girl with the cowboy hat?

There was a horrifying scream.

(I wish I could tell you this was the same story you're familiar with, and I wish I could say 'You all know what comes next'. I digress.)

As they all turned their attention to the noise, they saw Mimi, the missing girl, with a look of absolute terror on her face as a giant beast came crashing to the ground. Taichi and the red head boy, Koushiro quickly recognized the giant beast as Kuwagamon, but before they could speak up it vanished into thin air. It had been destroyed.

In a matter of seconds the air was filled with the sound of wings followed by a dark sinister laugh. On and on it went till finally into the view came a dark figure mounted on a flying beast. A beast so horrifying the young little digimon trembled at the sight of its multiple red eyes, and sharp teeth. It was Devidramon, the most sinister beast on the island.

The figure riding the monster began to speak. His voice was dark and full of malice – poison to all who heard it, he spoke with authority. "So you're the special kiddies that are supposed to bring peace to this rotting hell hole." He choked back a laugh, they were pathetic little ants compared to his awesome might. "I'd introduce myself but, it's really not worth it."

He let out a loud whistle before kicking his heels into the beast, in an instant it opened its jaws – eyes glowing bright red. It was preparing something big.

The pink squishy thing named Koromon jumped forward. "We can't let them hurt Taichi and the others!"

But before he could get very far, Taichi grabbed him mid-air. "Are you nuts, they destroyed Kuwagamon in one blow; he'll kill you Koromon!"

"I'M NOT SCARED!" This time it was Cloud who spoke up, before flying out of Mutini's arms. "I finally have a name and someone important who gave me that name, I'll fight!"

It wasn't long till the rest of the digimon were doing the same – each and every one of them taking a stand for their new found friends. It was too late; the Devidramon had unleashed a devastating ball of dark energy on the group. Nothing could save them now.

Mutini could feel something swell up inside of her, something she hadn't felt in a long time. It was the thought of losing someone, someone important. She could sense that she wasn't the only one, they all felt it. By now the tears were falling as she let out a cry. No words came out, but her heart was screaming. The device released a warm glow that quickly turned into a brilliant light.

In the blink of an eye, an overwhelming light came crashing from the sky – protecting the little tykes from the devastating blow. The children watched in awe as out of the chaos emerged eight new digimon, each and every one of them ready for a full out attack.

Mutini couldn't believe her eyes, where the little ball of fluff once was, now stood a short dragon with a bandana around his neck. His ears were the same but now he had a small silver tag in one with an orb at the end. He had long arms with big claws wrapped in belts and a long tail that was black at the tip. The only thing that seemed to have stayed the same was his wings.

The little dragon let out a mighty cry as he jumped into the air at Devidramon, his claws glowing a faint blue colour. "Cobalt Crusher!"

The beast flinched as the attack hit it square in the jaw; it let out a low growl in anger, but before it could counter it was hit head on by wave of attacks from the other digimon. It shook its head violently, almost knocking the figure off.

"Looks like I underestimated you…"The figure grumbled, it quickly gained its composer with a smile. "Allow me to introduce myself…my name is Hashiyan…let me be the first to say…GET THE FUCK OFF MY ISLAND!"

This time the attack hit, destroying the earth below the group. Nothing could save them now.

_**That's it for Chapter 2, Chapter 3 should be up within the next few days.**_


	4. Chapter 3: Red Team Blue Team

Chapter 3: Red Team Blue Team

Dark clouds concealed the mountain top, as the perilous storm raged on. Amidst the chaos flew the lone figure of a Devidramon and its master whom was pissed off as usual. The clashing of thunder and lightning did nothing to improve his overall mood. If there was one thing the beast had learned about its master, it's that he had to complain about something –if it wasn't something important, he was probably complaining about something trivial such as the texture of the clouds or their colour.

"Who the fuck builds a temple on the top of a mountain?!" The young man grumbled, as the dragon swerved out of the way of another lightning bolt. "Who the fuck builds it in a place prone to thunderstorms!?"

The digimon dared not answer. Another thing it knew about its master was its master was cruel and unforgiving – he was not its friend. He was not its chosen child. He was master and controller; and it was not living, it had no soul, it had no preference of gender, hopes or dreams. It was a heartless machine that obeyed without question.

A sudden flash of lightning knocked struck the dragon like digimon, sending it hurtling towards the ground below. It could hear Hashiyan screaming profanities at the top of his lungs as they began to drop out of the sky at an alarming speed. They were only inches away from the side of the mountain when the digimon had snapped out of its shock, regaining its balance. It shot into the air once more with a final burst of energy before attempting to land at the entrance of the temple. It was too weak.

As soon as the Devidramon attempted to land its legs gave out, sending the giant tumbling forward into the pavement below. It couldn't move, all it could do in its current condition was watch as its master soar through the air like a wingless bird before crashing into the marble flooring.

Hashiyan began to growl as he pulled himself to his feet. "You stupid Digimon, I could have been killed!" He quickly pulled a small broken device from his robe and made his way over to the virus type. He could see the fear in its eyes. It knew exactly what was coming.

He was interrupted by a rather dark voice. "Making a ruckus again I see…and so early in the morning."

"It's mid-noon; you'd know that if you weren't in this shit hole all the time!" He snapped, turning his attention to the lord of the island, Devimon.

It gave him a grim smirk before changing the subject. "Did you get rid of the children?"

"Hell if I know." Hashiyan bluntly replied, "They went off the cliff and into some white light."

"You didn't go after them?!" Devimon hissed, ready to kill the ignorant teen. "You're an incompetent fool!" He was quickly overcome with horror – in the matter of seconds he was pinned to the ground by the large black dragon. It began to snarl, as if reminding Devimon of its place.

"You forget who I am…" The boy mumbled, his tone was sinister and full of malice. "You may be the lord of this mountain…but compared to me you're a lowly piece of shit…maybe my master needs to get involved…"

The Devimon grew pale as he tried to struggle free. "No, please! Don't!"

Hashiyan smirked before snapping his fingers, causing the Devidramon to step down. "Be glad my master needs you. Let's go Neuro."

The dragon grunted, lifting the black haired boy onto its back before spreading its bat like wings against the stormy sky. Devimon could only watch as the boy and its digimon disappeared into oncoming squall.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Mutini awoke again with the same familiar headache; she had hoped what transpired was nothing but a dream caused by a rogue snowball with a rock in it - she was never that lucky. Her vision began to focus on the scene in front of her – every which way she looked, there was nothing but giant old trees and a heavy mist that loomed between them. Slowly, she shifted in the leaves beneath her - unsuccessfully keeping quiet. She got on her feet as her gaze made its way to the tree tops, but she couldn't see after a certain point because of the shrouding mist. She let out a soft sigh at her vague attempt to find the sky before falling back into the thicket below. How she wished she could be at home right now in her bed, she knew either way she would be alone, but at least it would be comfier.

A familiar face appeared before her, it was Cloud. "Mutini, you're okay! I'm so glad you're okay!"

She stared at him, how could someone she only met a few hours ago care so much about her? She wasn't important, pretty or smart. She was nothing, yet this little white dragon, that only made it up to her stomach; thought the world of her.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" He asked, shifting uncomfortably by her stare. He was then pulled into a sudden hug; he could hear the young girl sobbing against him. "D-Don't cry, I'm sure the others are around here somewhere….I-I hope."

As if on cue, the digimon's ears perked. It could hear the sound of buzzing wings followed by footsteps. Swiftly, he pulled away and stood his ground. He wasn't going to allow anyone to hurt Mutini, not now when she needed him the most. His body relaxed when a familiar set of silhouettes came into view. It was Yamato, Takeru and Koushiro.

"Mutini! Cloud!" The little blond haired boy cheered, as he ran towards the two; Patamon was close behind.

"We are sure glad to see you!" Cloud smiled happily, spinning the little animal with wings as the two began to laugh.

"At least this raises the chance of the others being here too..." Koushiro began as he looked at the device in his hand. "But, the only reason we found each other was because this machine was beeping…"

"And the minute it stopped, we heard Cloud!" Tentomon finished as he gracefully landed next to Koushiro. "Do you think we can use it to find the others?"

Koushiro began to ponder as he took off his bag, "I think it only works if we're close enough…so the fact it's not going off anymore…might mean that they're farther into the woods or someplace else…"

Yamato spoke up this time; there was concern in his voice. "We can't just wander aimlessly waiting for some kind of signal, and it's starting to get dark out."

Koushiro nodded in agreement. "You're right, we'll set up camp here and hopefully tomorrow we'll find the rest of the group."

Everyone was set on the plan and what needed to be done for the night; their first priority was starting a fire.

Gabumon was the first to speak. "It won't take long; all the trees here are really old and drop twigs all the time!"

"That's right, and if we need to we'll just break a few from the trees." Patamon chimed, ready to fire a ball of air at one of the trees.

Tentomon quickly stopped him. "Don't, you'll anger the guardian of the forest!"

Everyone looked at him perplexed.

"That's just a myth though, isn't it?" Cloud replied, as he ever so slightly tilted his head.

Tentomon paused for a moment before replying. "I 'unno."

The rest of the group let out a sigh as Yamato and Gabumon rose to their feet, and began to make their way in a random direction.

"We'll get some wood." Yamato stated, "We won't be gone long…"

Before he could take another step, Mutini hopped to her feet and grabbed the hem of shirt. She wanted to be of some use rather than to just sit there.

"I need you to stay here…" He quickly protested. "I'll be fine on my own, Takeru and Koushiro need you here."

She looked down, feeling dejected. She should have known better, why would he want her help? If anything she'd only slow him down. She could only think, it was better that way.

Without giving their discussion another thought, he slowly turned away from her, vanishing into the misty treeline. Her intentions didn't matter to him, he needed the time alone.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Taichi slowly began to open his eyes; this had been the second time today he had been knocked unconscious, and frankly he wasn't hoping to get used to it any time soon. He took a quick glance around his surroundings – he was in a tent. Was it all a dream? Without a moment to lose, he poked his head out into the light; he was hit by the welcoming smell of food and loud noises. It became clear rather quickly, this was no dream, he was still in this strange place.

A rather eager pink Yokomon ran towards him, "Oh you're awake! You gave us a fright when you fell from the sky!"

"I wha?" He was stupefied. It took the young goggle boy a few minutes before he finally asked. "H-Hey wait, where is everybody?"

"You mean your friends?" The Yokomon asked. "They're at the feast; we've been waiting for you."

Upon hearing the word "feast" his stomach started rumbling all this excitement had made him hungry. He sheepishly grinned. "Lead the way."

The walk didn't take long; in fact he noticed the village wasn't even that big. How he even fit in one of their tents was a mystery to him. He finally spotted the rest of the group sitting around a large table covered in an assortment of goodies. He then quickly realized something wasn't right - four people were missing.

"Hey where are Koushiro, Mutini, Takeru and Yamato?" He asked. The rest of the group fell silent, unable to answer. Taichi frowned before turning his attention to the Yokomon again. "Hey, were we the only ones you found?"

The Yokomon nodded. "That's right, you were the only ones outside the village."

Their expressions turned grim.

Mimi was the first to start brooding. "Yamato-kun looks like he can handle his own but….I'm really worried about Koushiro-kun, he doesn't seem like the outdoorsman type…and Mutie-chan is so pale…I bet this was her first time leaving the house…and Takeru-chan is so young…"

Sora stopped her. "Mimi-chan, you're going to give Joe-senpai a heart attack. I bet they all found each other and are safe and sound in another village."

The little orange dinosaur jumped in. "And they're not alone!"

"Yeah, Cloud and the others are with them!" Piyomon chimed.

Palmon nodded before giving Mimi a reassuring pat. "See Mimi, there's nothing to be worried about!"

"Tell Joe that." Gomamon snickered. "I'm pretty sure he wet himself."

"I-I did not!" Joe protested - his face beet red. "D-Don't make things up!"

Tai took a seat between Agumon and Sora, watching rather amused at the fight going on in front of him.

Little did they notice the sound of wings in the distance; a sound that would soon determine their course and their fate.

_**I am so sorry this took so long, this chapter was such a pain to get through…hopefully Chapter 4 and 5 will be out a lot sooner now that this is out of the way.**_


	5. Chapter 4: Fiddler of the Mist

_**I know this took forever. it probably would of been forever if it weren't for musical inspiration. Thank you Nightmare before christmas. Anyway enjoy.**_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Darkness loomed in the forest, only the ominous glow of a campfire could be seen in the mist along with the huddled silhouettes of eight figures. They were tired and most of all hungry – slowly they looked amongst each other for an answer to the problem.

Yamato sighed as he dug into his back pocket, only to reveal a small metal instrument. "All I have is my harmonica…"

"And all I have is my laptop…" Koushiro replied, at this point it wasn't looking good for them.

Takeru was next, a wide grin came to his face as he opened his bag. "I brought candy!"

"If we split this amongst the eight of us, it will get us through the night." Koushiro explained as he began to divide up the contents of the bag.

"I guess that's better than nothing." Yamato sighed before patting the younger boy on the head. He was proud of him. "But, what if we can't find any food after this?"

They all went silent for a moment before turning to Mutini, how could they forget. She had been lugging around that backpack this whole time. There had to be something in there.

Cloud finally broke the silence. "Do you have any food, Mutie?"

She paused for a moment; she completely forgot about her bag. Slowly she took it off her back and began to rummage through it, pulling whatever she had in it. There was a first aid kit, a flashlight, rope, a flair gun, spare batteries, an ice pick, and finally enough food and water for about two weeks. How she managed to get it all in there – nobody knew. The rest of the group could only stare - slack jawed. She wasn't prepared for summer camp. She was prepared for an earthquake or an avalanche.

Gabumon whispered to Cloud. "How did she do that…?"

"I don't know, maybe it's bigger on the inside…" Cloud responded; he was just as mystified by the magic of the bag.

"Humans have such amazing technology!" Tentomon piped up.

"Or we're traveling with a Time Lord." Yamato mumbled; the rest of them looked at him, their faces scrawled with confusion by the reference he was attempting to make. "Sorry…my dad watches some really weird things on TV sometimes…"

Koushiro quickly returned to the subject at hand, dividing up the new rations. "This should last us about a week. Hopefully by then we've found the others."

The rest of the group nodded in unison before taking their shares of the food, it wasn't long till soon after they had all drifted to sleep.

_She couldn't see it was too dark in the room. She slowly began to feel around in hopes to find a wall or a light, but it was futile, she could have walked forever without finding what she was looking for. She slipped and landed in a pool of a strange fluid – it was warm and wet with a putrid smell. She slowly climbed out of the pool, coughing up the disgusting fluid. She tried to cry but no sound came out, all she could hear was the sound of meat being dragged across the floor as it slowly moved closer and closer to her. She couldn't move all she could do was watch in horror as a hand reached out of the dark and wrapped itself around her neck, slowly squeezing the life out of her. _

_ A horrible raspy voice began to scream over and over again. "You did this to me!"_

_ She desperately tried to fight back but the cold boney hand was too strong. Finally with all her might she pushed the figure away, but the moment she did she heard a familiar screech. She was no longer in the dark room._

_ She was standing at a crosswalk covered in blood, as she stared into the unblinking eyes of the woman she had pushed. She could hear her still screaming in that terrible raspy voice. _

_ "You did this…"_

_ She booked it down the never ending street, but no matter how hard she tried to run away, the voice plagued her mind. Her legs gave out and she collapsed onto the road. She heard the sound of an oncoming car, but she couldn't move. She was paralyzed in place. She tried to scream for help, but it was useless – there was no sound. She watched as the car inched closer, closer._

Mutini awoke in a cold sweat, her heart running a million miles per hour. She was heavily disoriented and pushing towards a full blown panic attack when a hand appeared on her shoulder, causing her to jerk towards the intruder – it was Yamato.

Quickly he gripped her shoulders and forced her to look at him, "Calm down it was just a dream…"

She didn't move, all she could do was stare into those blue eyes – at this point she was unsure her heart would burst from her chest from the fear or the fact he was holding her like this. It was short lived though, for he had let go the moment she stopped shaking.

He then turned away from her before speaking. "You should try to get back to sleep; we have a long day ahead of us…"

Before she could make any gesture in protest, they both heard a low humming sound coming deep from the woods. Slowly they looked towards the sound before looking back at each other. It was haunting yet, strangely hypnotic. Before they realized what was going on the both of them were walking towards the low humming – it was impossible to tell whether they moved out of sheer curiosity or perhaps it was something else…something more.

Yamato was the first to snap out of the trance, disoriented and lost. Quickly he turned his attention to the girl, pulling her into him before shaking her out of the trance. "Hey, snap out of it!"

Slowly, Mutini awoke from the daze – just as baffled and perplexed as he was when he awoke, she quickly began to blush again when she realized he was holding her again. He didn't seem to notice.

What he did notice however, was that the music had stopped and the camp was nowhere to be seen. He began to panic, "Where is the camp, I don't see it anywhere – Takeru, he's still sleeping he could be in trouble!"

Mutini began to panic; he had taken off into the mist in a random direction without warning. How she wish she could scream for him to stop, or that she didn't have that stupid limp; round and round her thoughts went as she desperately tried to keep up with him, she was too caught up in her thoughts that she hadn't realized the music had started up again, causing her to crash into the blonde that had suddenly stopped.

Forward they went, toppling into the ground below before rolling to a stop. Mutini could feel her ears burn up, anymore contact with Yamato and her heart would burst. His attention was elsewhere, mainly the severe headache he had received when he made contact with the cold forest floor. It wasn't long till the two of them noticed the music again, however.

Louder and louder it grew, pulling the children to their feet – it was everywhere now. Mutini began to shake again, she couldn't move, paralyzed. It was then she heard the footsteps following the tune, it wasn't long till the fear began to swell deep within her stomach. They were going to die, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. She was so consumed by her fears that it came as a shock to her when Yamato took her hand.

Slowly she turned her attention to him; he was staring on ahead as cool and calm as ever – hadn't it been for the fact she was holding his hand, she would think he was fearless. He was shaking just as badly as she was.

It wasn't long until they saw a figure slowly approaching them, with an instrument in hand. He let out a loud chuckle before coming into view. It was Arbormon. "So you are the one's destroying my beloved forest, I shall make you pay for your insolence!"

Yamato softly whispered to Mutini. "The second he stops playing that thing I'm going to attack him that should give you enough time to make a run for it."

She didn't move, he was clearly nuts but then again what choice did they have?

Yamato tried to steady his voice as he spoke. "Do…all digimon play musical instruments?"

The Arbormon stopped to look at him. "Actually I-"

He didn't waste another second, Yamato lunged forward toppling over the Arbormon; he then quickly turned his attention to Mutini. There she was frozen in fear – quickly he snapped at her. "What are you doing?! Get out of here!"

It was all so fast for her; she couldn't even remember snapping out of shock. All she knew was she was running as fast as she could – she felt terrible, she had just abandoned the only boy she ever really liked. It wasn't long till her foot got caught on a root and went flying forward into the ground below. She couldn't stop crying, she was lost, afraid and for all she knew Yamato was dead – all because she wasn't strong enough to do anything. Her quiet sobs were quickly interrupted by a sudden beeping sound; it was that weird device again. Slowly she sat up and looked at the screen; there they were plain as day, two little dots close together, a blinking dot, and a dot sitting in the distance. Slowly she crawled to her feet; was this the beeping Koushiro mentioned before? She hoped so. Quickly she took off towards the two dots, praying it would be the camp. Please be the camp. Her heart swelled with hope the moment she saw the faint glow of the camp fire coming closer and closer.

Cloud's ears perked at the sound of oncoming footsteps, he let out a small yawn before looking around fire. Where were Mutini and Yamato? The little dragon shook awake in a panic, his eyes darting around frantically in search of the two children. They were nowhere in sight, what if something horrible had happened to them?

"Gabumon, wake up!" He shouted as he quickly jostled the digimon awake. "Yamato and Mutini are missing!"

Koushiro slowly sat up, attempting to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "What's going on?"

"Mutie and Yamato are gone!" Cloud cried out, his gaze then turned to the oncoming figure in the mist. Upon realizing who it was, he ran towards it. "Mutini!"

Mutini could feel a sense of relief wash over her as she saw the familiar little dragon coming towards her. When he was close enough, she collapsed to her knees – hugging the dragon tightly.

"I-I was so worried that something happened to you." The little dragon cried out, so happy that she was okay. "Wait, Yamato wasn't with you?"

Her eyes widened, Yamato was still out there. She began to panic.

It wasn't long till the rest of them where around them, Takeru and Patamon included.

Takeru spoke up, "Mutie-chan, where's Oniichan?" he sounded just as scared and worried as the rest of them.

She didn't waste another second; she quickly pointed out to the woods and urged them to follow. He needed their help now.

Quick as they could, the group ran towards the beeping sound of Yamato's device where they came face to face with Arbormon, ready to finish the job.

"Get your hands off him!" Gabumon barked as he rammed head first into the foe, causing it to drop Yamato.

Takeru was the first to run towards him, followed by Mutini. "Oniichan, are you okay?"

"T-Takeru what are you doing here…?" The older boy began to mumble as he sat up.

"Mutie-chan brought us here to help you!" The little boy responded, "We were really worried about you!"

Yamato slowly looked between the two before turning his focus to the fight at hand, between the four digimon; they appeared no match against Arbormon. One by one it knocked them down before turning his focus to Yamato once more.

"We're not finished yet, boy!" Arbormon growled as he made his way over to the trio, knocking back all who got in its way.

Quickly Yamato grabbed a hold of Mutini's arm and spoke. "I need you to grab Takeru and run…"

She shook her head; she refused to leave him there twice. Takeru agreed. "Oniichan we can't leave you here, he'll kill you!"

Mutini didn't wait for his response, quickly she wrapped Yamato's arm around her shoulder and helped him to his feet. She refused to leave him there alone again.

"Not this time!" Arbormon shouted as it began to fire seed-like bombs from its mouth at them, but with the last of his strength Yamato pushed Mutini and Takeru out of the way.

Takeru began to cry, as he tried to claw his way out of Mutini's grasp – but he quickly stopped when Yamato began to move, he was barely conscious and one more hit he was finished. He slowly looked at them and whispered. "Take care…of Takeru…"

The Arbormon got into position and readied itself before shouting. "MACHINE GUN DANCE!" In a flash its arms went shooting forward in a rapid frenzy straight towards Yamato.

Gabumon rose to his feet and booked it towards the boy, he couldn't let it end this way – he couldn't watch this brave boy die. He lost him once, and refused to lose him for good. As he jumped forward he let out a mighty cry; as he did a bright light shun from Yamato's device surrounding Gabumon.

The rest happened so quickly, a figure sprang from the light and grabbed Yamato before landing safely away from the attack. Gabumon was no more, instead there now stood a grand wolf like beast ready for anything that came its way.

The children stood in awe as the beast gently rested Yamato with the rest of them before turning its attention to Arbormon, a low growl escaping its throat.

"I-Is that Gabumon?" Koushiro gasped, it was hard to believe the shy digimon that was Gabumon could turn into that.

"That's right, he digivolved into Garurumon!" Tentomon explained rather excitedly.

Arbormon leered at the new foe, he refused to be intimidated – swiftly he once again released a full on assault of punches and kicks but Garurumon was too quick for him and jumped out of the way of the attack before lunging forward at Arbormon.

Arbormon was caught off guard, and without much thought attempted to block the attack with the instrument he was holding – shattering it into millions of pieces. In the matter of seconds a dark force shot out of Arbormon's body forcing it to cry out in pain before crashing to the ground.

Patamon slowly moved its wings out of its eyes before asking. "I-Is it over?" but no one seemed brave enough to make sure the digimon was done for.

Garurumon let out another growl as Arbormon began to move, letting out low groans of pain before sitting up. It looked around perplexed before asking. "That's strange how did I end up here?"

"You…don't remember anything?" Cloud suspiciously asked, staying on guard in case it was a trap but the digimon simply rubbed its head curiously.

"All I remember was a strange cloaked figure appeared to me and told me some children were on their way to destroy my forest." Arbormon explained as it stood up. "I didn't believe him at first, but then he gave me that strange instrument and the next thing I knew I blacked out."

"It must have been Hashiyan…" Koushiro mumbled, his voice was rather filled with concern.

"If I hurt you children I deeply apologize…" Arbormon sincerely apologized with a bow. "If there is anything I can do to make it up to you…"

"Do you know the way out of here?" Cloud curiously asked looking around the woods.

Arbormon nodded. "Yes of course, let me just raise the mist." It then raised its arm up and in the matter of an instant the mist had been lifted it then turned its attention back to the children. "You should get some rest, I will watch out for any danger for you and show you the way out when you are ready."

The group nodded before heading back to the campground; upon arriving, with the help of Mutini, Garurumon gently sent Yamato down before changing back into Gabumon. He then looked at the boy rather concerned. "Will he be okay…?"

Mutini slowly nodded as she pulled out her first aid kit, she didn't want to admit it but she had quite a bit of experience with these kinds of things. Slowly she lifted her arms to motion Yamato she needed him to remove his shirt – at first he was reluctant but Takeru wouldn't hear it, he wanted his brother to get better. Yamato sighed and gently got his shirt off, forcing the heat to return to Mutie's ears. She shook it off and got to work, trying to be as gentle as possible. Soon enough Takeru went back to sleep, leaving the two of them alone once more.

Yamato turned his attention to Mutini and whispered. "Thanks…"

She tilted her head confused, why was he thanking her.

He shook his head, quickly changing the topic. "Mutini…isn't your real name…is it…?"

She shook her head in response. No one really bothered to know what her name was.

"Mind if I ask what it is?"

She gently took his hand and began to write it into his hand; he looked at her rather surprised.

"You write in English?"

She sheepishly nodded.

"I might butcher your name…if you want you can call me something other Yamato every time I do…"

She began to blush a bit, unsure of what to think of that. Gently she began to write the name she thought of on his hand. He then sighed. "I guess that's not too bad."

Her lips twitched a little. She was happy, he was finally opening up to her – things were finally looking up for her. She finished up his bandages then slowly crawled over to Cloud. She tried to think of what awaited them tomorrow and if the others were alright but all she could think of was Yamato. Slowly she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep. For once, she her dreams weren't so bad.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_**Thats all for chapter 4, hopefully with some new ideas I can get the next chapter out sooner. Laters**_


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